Marine propeller

ABSTRACT

A water propeller for driving water craft such as an outboard motor boat and having the hub and propeller blades made as an integral unit from a rigid transparent material such as glass to reduce noise when propelling the boat through water.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,740,165 1 Rodriquez June 19, 1973 1MARINE PROPELLER 2,111,245 3/1938 Irgens 416/134 x 3,224,509 l2/l965Thom 4l6/24l X [76] Inventor: Raul Rodflquez, 625 Jackson 3,233,6782/1966 Wilk 1 416/241 nue,Bronx,N.Y. 10455 3,256,939 1966 Novak 4l6/134x [22] Filed: June 9, 1971 v Primary Examiner-Everette A. Powell, Jr.[2]] Appl' 151383 AttorneyBrenner, OBrien & Guay [52] US. Cl. 416/241 57AB TRACT [51] Int. Cl B63h 1/14 I 1 S 58 Field Of Search 416/241, 241 A,169, A Water propfiller for driving Water Craft Such as an 41 134 boardmotor boat and having the hub and propeller blades made as an integralunit from a rigid transparent 5 References Cited material such as glassto reduce noise when propelling UNITED STATES PATENTS the through Water-216,880 6/1879 Nelson 416/241 X 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures Patented June19, 1973 INVENTO/Z "RODRI GUEZ 6244mm, 0 51A.

RAUL

MARINE PROPELLER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to propellers and in particular to marinepropellers utilized on water craft.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art is abundant with a widevariety of propellers for water craft, which propellers are designed inaccordance with engineering requirements into many configurations andsizes. However, the prior art has never recognized or attacked theproblem of noise, spray and/or wake caused by a rotating propellerdriving a ship through water. That such a problem exists is apparent bymerely visiting a waterway used by motor boats, pleasure yachts, etc.Even the occupants and pilot of such watercraft are irritated by thenoise emerging from the water churned up by a rotating propeller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is summarized in that awater propeller for a water craft is designed with a central hubrotatable about a central axis and a plurality of spaced bladesprojecting from the hub in generally radial fashion, with the hub andblades being formed as an integral unit which is made of a rigidtransparent material having an affinity for water whereby such unitexhibits noise abatement characteristics when rotated in water.

It is an object of this invention to present a solution to the problemcausing noise, spray, and/or wake from a propeller driven through water.

Another object of the present invention is to substantially reducenoise, spray, and/or wake caused by a water propeller as it rotates.

The present invention has another object in that a water craft propelleris made from a substantially rigid transparent material.

This invention has another object in that a water craft propeller ismade from a glass material.

It is another object of the present invention to construct the hub andblades of a marine propeller into an integral unit.

A further object of this invention is to adapt a water propeller made ofglass for direct mounting onto a drive shaft.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying draw- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a planview ofa marine propeller embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is. a cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and2, the present invention is embodied in a propeller, indicated generallyat 10, of the type defined as a marine propeller which is attached to adrive shaft for propelling a seacraft through water. The propellerincludes a central hub 12 in the form of a hollow cylinder and aplurality of equally spaced blades 14 projecting radially from the hub12. While the blades 14 are relatively thin in crosssection, theparticular shape of the blades 14 as well as diameter and pitch of thepropeller may be varied in accordance with particular designrequirements. In addition, the drawing shows a plurality of three bladesfor the propeller but it is to be understood that the specific number ofblades is not a material factor in this invention and any number ofblades may be utilized as desired or required. For instance, on lightoutboard motors a two bladed propeller may be sufficient while on heavyoutboard motors a four bladed propeller may be required; of course, thenumber of blades may also be varied with respect to particular usagewith inboard engmes.

The propeller hub 12 may be provided with a tapered bore, a non-circularbore or a longitudinal key for attachment directly to a conforminglyshaped shaft of a motor or engine (not shown). Alternatively, a mountingbushing 16 with a rubber sleeve 17 thereon may be secured in thepropeller hub 12 whereby a plurality of differently bored bushings 16may be kept in stock to conform to the diameters of conventional shafts.The rubber sleeve 17 reduces vibration that would ordinarily betransmitted to the propeller hub 14 and blades 16.

In accordance with the present invention, the hub 12 and blades 14 aremanufactured, as by molding, casting, etc., into an integral unitdefining the propeller 10. The integral propeller 10 is made fromtransparent material, such as clear rigid plastic or glass, having highstrength characteristics. In using glass as a material for making theintegral propeller 10, I have discovered that usage in water obtained ahighly unusual result in that the noise of the water and spray or wakeof the water are substantially reduced.

The water disturbance and wake reduction is effected by the glasspropeller because glass has an affinity for water similar to the slick,slimy transparent coating found on fishes. For example, a volume ofwater impelled against a metal plate will splatter in all directionsaway from such plate; however, the same volume of water impelled withthe same force against a glass plate will splatter to a much lesserdegree than the splattering against the metal plate. While the exactscientific reason for such an unusual result is not known, I believethat it is associated with an oxygen release from the wa ter.

In addition to its water disturbance abatement characteristic, theintegral propeller 10 has the further advantage of substantiallyreducing the wake or cavitation that accompanies usual marinepropellers. During turning, the transparent propeller becomes part ofthe water and may even be driven into a fishing ground withoutfrightening the fishes.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many .variations,modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all mattercontained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanyingdrawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

l. A water propeller for a water craft comprising a central hubrotatable about a central axis,

a plurality of spaced blades projecting from said hub in generallyradial fashion, i

said hub and said blades being formed as an integral unit,

said integral unit being made of a rigid transparent glass materialhaving an affinity for water, and said integral unit exhibiting a waterdisturbance abatement characteristic during rotation in water resultingin substantial reductions in noise and wake as the integral unitproceeds through water.

1. A water propeller for a water craft comprising a central hubrotatable about a central axis, a plurality of spaced blades projectingfrom said hub in generally radial fashion, said hub and said bladesbeing formed as an integral unit, said integral unit being made of arigid transparent glass material having an affinity for water, and saidintegral unit exhibiting a water disturbance abatement characteristicduring rotation in water resulting in substantial reductions in noiseand wake as the integral unit proceeds through water.